I heard a rumor a while back that apparently after Marciano retired he was offered a million dollar purse to come back and fight Floyd Patterson. Is this true? Anyone hear about this? And if so, who do you think would have won? I personally think Patterson was overrated, so I'd probably choose Marciano, but what do you guys think?:dunno:
Never heard about it. At his best i'd favor Marciano, but if was old and out of shape when the offer was made to him i would have went with Patterson.
Spoke about this yeeeears ago and it appeared to have validity. Even still, Patterson was at that stage, unproven and untested, but there was a hype machine behind him even then. Marciano would have flayed him.
The ONLY Guy REED has Heard EVER Marciano Accused of "Ducking" was Sonny Liston... & Old Timers Tell REED that Liston was N the VERY EARLY Stages of his Career when Marciano Retired...It's NOT like Liston was the # 1 Contender when Marciano Retired... So Sure, it's CONCEIVABLE that Marciano was OFFERED a Fight w/Patterson... Patterson had the SKILLSET to EMBARRASS Marciano, but he ALSO had the Chin to Get KO'ed N the 1st Round by Marciano... REED::
I agree .... :: :: It's just one of those fights you don't bet on ... Though I'm thinking a young prime Marciano would have definetly found that chin at some point ... The older Marciano , like I said its one of those fights you don't bet on ..
I've always said that I don't think any fighter in history between 175 and 200 pounds beats Marciano over 15 rounds. Patterson is no exception. Patterson was the type of small, weak-chinned fighter that Marciano would have feasted on. Liston, on the other hand, would have raped Marciano.
I don't remember a Patterson fight but I know Marciano was supposed to fight Johannson after he beat Patterson. It was supposed to be in Rome I believe. Marciano thought better of it as the fight was drawing close and pulled out. Rocky had a bad back and he knew he hadn't aged well. He got out of the game at the right time and he knew it.
